Payback Time
by Deliwiel
Summary: Mac has to go undercover at an underground boxing ring, but when two agents show up wanting revenge, things may get a little more difficult for him. Prompt from Tinkerbella7, full prompt inside.


_**Okay, so this was a prompt from Tinkerbella7, she wanted another story with Stephen and Grant, the two agents from my story "First Day on the Job." Full prompt is at the bottom :)**_

 _ **Lol, this really was supposed to be a one-shot, but for some reason the stories I write just love to run away with me XD don't worry, it's all in one chapter, it's just a little longer than your average one-shot XD**_

 _ **I feel like it's kinda weak in some spots, I'm sorry about that...**_

 _ **Disclaimer, I know this is probably a far-fetched idea for a spy organization, but let's just roll with it for now ;)**_

"Marco DeMartin," Thornton said, showing the two agents in front of her a picture of a mean-looking man. "He is a criminal warlord hiding here in the States under the name 'Franco Gonzalez.' He and his buddies came to the states a few months ago to avoid war crime charges. Our main goal is to bring in Marco; it would be ideal if we could get the rest of his friends, who are posing as his guards, too."

"So where are they now?" Mac asked as he fiddled with a paperclip.

"Downtown San Fran," Patricia responded, swiping on her tablet to bring up a map. She circled a little area and continued talking. "DeMartin's here running illegal 'boxing' matches, though from what I hear it's more like MMA style fighting," she explained. "I need you two to bring him in; he's evaded capture long enough."

"Sure thing, Patty," Jack said. His arms were folded across his chest as he studied both the map and the picture of the man. "What's our way in?"

"He's guarded heavily all the time by his war friends unless he's in his office. When he's there, his 'guards' stay outside the room," she explained. "From what we've been able to find out, the door is a thick and wooden that remains locked constantly, even when he's inside. Trying to break down the door or force our way through would draw too much attention to ourselves. The only way to get a face-to-face with him is to win; rumor has it he pays the winners heavily to keep fighting for him, and do whatever he asks, whether it's throwing the bout or...something more sinister outside the ring," she said. "He likes to meet with the winners privately."

"So how do we get in?" Jack asked again. "Is there a window we can climb through? Alarms that need to be deactivated before we can get in?"

"That's not what she's thinking," Mac cut in. The blond stared at their boss, searching for confirmation of his hunch.

"No, it's not," Patricia agreed. "The easiest way to get in to see him would be to fight-fight and win," she added.

"Okay, that makes sense," Jack said. "So I guess I'll go dust off my boxing gloves. It's been a few years, but keeping active in the field's kept me pretty trained. I think I can do it," he said confidently.

"Jack," Mac interrupted. "It's not gonna be you in the ring," he said. Jack gave him an incredulous look.

"Not me?" he asked. "If not me, then-" he cut off, his eyes going wide. "You can't possibly be thinking you can go in there and fight, can you?"

"Thanks for the vote of confidence, Jack," Mac said drily. "Means a lot."

"I'm serious man," Jack said, sounding almost angry. "I've seen a bit of boxing in my day. It gets mean, and that's when it's legal," he insisted.

"Jack, you can go in acting like my trainer, but it would be a little weird for me to go in saying I'm your trainer, wouldn't it?" Mac pointed out.

"Come on, Patty," Jack insisted, gesturing at MacGyver. "I need to be the one in the ring," he said. Thornton shook her head.

"Sorry Jack," she said. She meant it, too. "Mac's got a point. You're sure you want to do this?" she asked, turning to the blond. Mac looked at his boss, then his partner, then back to his boss.

"No, but I'm gonna do it anyway."

0-0-0

"Registering Calvin "Earthquake" Jones," Jack said as they walked up to the registering table. Mac's eyes widened imperceptibly when he heard his name, but he kept his expression as neutral as he could. "I'm his trainer, Jarom Lake."

The lady registering people took their names down and gave them directions on where to go, but before they left, Jack sidled up to the pretty woman. "Say, you wouldn't be able to tell us who the heavy hitters for tonight are, would you?" he asked quietly, subtly slipping the woman a bill across the table. She took it from him with a sly look and pulled out the piece of paper with all the names of the fighters on them, and began circling different names. Then, at the bottom of the paper she wrote something else before handing it over to Jack.

"Thank you very much," Jack said with a wink, looking down and seeing the woman had written her number in the bottom corner. "Any tips you got for me or my fighter here?" he asked. She leaned forward.

"Refs can be fickle people sometimes," she said coyly. "All they need is the right president telling them what to do and they'll do it. As for your fighter? The best advice I could probably give you would be don't get hit," she said to MacGyver, tossing a little wink in at the end. Mac nodded, waiting to roll his eyes until they turned away from the table and began walking away.

"Really?" he asked Jack quietly as they walked away. "You couldn't think of a better name than 'Earthquake'?"

"Hey, it's perfect! People are gonna underestimate you because the name doesn't quite fit the person, no offense, but then you'll come out of nowhere and whoop their butts!" Jack said confidently. Mac rolled his eyes again, this time letting his partner see it, but he didn't say anything else about the name choice.

"I'm gonna go see a man about your placement," Jack said, walking towards a table. Mac looked where his partner was going, noticing it was where the names of all the winners were placed. Mac watched Jack walk over to one of the men sitting at the table. The agent bent down and began talking to the scorekeepers. They all began laughing at whatever the Texan had said, and soon Jack reached into his back pocket and pulled out something green. While Jack was busy with the judges, Mac glanced around, trying to scout out the worst competition.

 _Okay, I've said it before and I'll probably say it again. I'm good at hand-to-hand combat. Not as good as Jack, but not as bad as some of the people I've met out in the field. I can hold my own. I gotta admit though: a lot of these men looked like they could eat me for breakfast, and I'm pretty hard to swallow._

While he was looking around, a couple familiar faces caught his attention. He stared in confusion as Grant Beckett and Stephen West walked towards him. They were the agents who had made his first day at work so, ah, memorable. Mac blinked a few times, looking back to see Jack bidding farewell to the men at the table and make his way towards his young partner again. Jack reached Mac and began speaking, not seeming to notice the two other DXS agents walking towards them yet.

"Got it so you don't have to fight till the quarter-final round," Jack muttered to his friend, holding out his hand for a fist-bump. Before Mac could complete the gesture though, Stephen and Grant finally made it over to their two coworkers. Jack's eyes went wide as he recognized the two of them.

"What are you doing here?" Jack hissed at them.

"We heard about the op and figured if both of us fought as well as Mac here, that almost guarantees us a shot at DeMartin," Stephen explained.

Mac stared at the two of them; he had never told Jack who it was that had locked him in the closet on his first day at work, because first of all, it was a stupid prank, and he didn't think it deserved the attention Jack would have given it. He didn't know if it deserved the attention Thornton had given it. Stephen saw Mac staring at him and waggled his eyebrows slightly.

"Well listen," Jack said. "We appreciate the thought, but I've got Mac here already lined up for the quarter-finals. I'm pretty sure he can handle himself," Jack said proudly.

"Really?" Grant asked, pretending to look wowed. "Stephen got himself in the quarter-finals too," he informed them. Jack folded his arms and stared the two agents down.

"And what happens if Mac and Stephen have to fight each other?" Jack asked.

"Then may the best man win," Stephen said, the hint of a threat only perceived by Mac. Grant and Stephen turned and walked away, leaving a bewildered Jack and a determined-looking Mac behind.

"You got this, kid," Jack said confidently after a minute, clapping his friend on the shoulder. "The fights are starting; let's go what you'll be up against."

0-0-0

MacGyver and Jack watched the fights, and Mac had to admit that these guys were good. Some of the injuries he saw were enough to make him, a trained spy, feel slightly sick to his stomach.

"I'm pretty sure arms aren't supposed to bend like that," he said to Jack, trying to lighten the mood a little

"We're gonna make sure your arm doesn't bend like that," Jack muttered darkly as he studied the fighters. "Okay, look at this guy over here," he said, motioning to the man who had just won the fight. He was a monster, at least six feet, six inches tall, weighing in at at least 250. From the list the registrar had given them, the man's name, or at least his fighting name, was "The Hammer."

"I was watching him fight," Jack continued. "He's big, but he's kinda slow on the rebound, so if you hit him hard enough, it takes him a while to recover and you should be able to take him down if you just keep hitting him. The hard part is going to be hitting him hard enough the first time to have an effect," he added, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Jack," MacGyver said, nudging his friend. "I've got this," he assured his partner. Mac could see Jack was practically biting his tongue against what he wanted to say. "Honestly," Mac said. "It's the easiest and the fastest way to get in to see DeMartin. We gotta do this."

"But why are you going in to fight?" Jack asked, trying to keep his voice down. "I'm the one with boxing experience; I could take these guys!"

"Using brute strength, yes," Mac conceded. "But I've got something a lot of these people don't use in fights like these," he informed his partner.

"What's that?" Jack asked skeptically.

"My brains," Mac replied with a wink. Jack let out a sigh, but didn't say anything else. They continued watching the fights, Jack pointing out the weaknesses of everyone who won the fights.

"He's favoring his right knee a little now."

"That last hit left him seeing stars; you can bet he's got at least a small concussion. That'll make him slower in the ring."

"Broken fingers. He can't hit hard with that hand now even if it's taped."

They also watched as Grant moved through the ranks, but he lost his third fight, leaving only MacGyver and Stephen left as undercover DXS fighters.

Finally, a buzzer sounded on signaling MacGyver's fight was about to start. Mac and Jack saw Mac's alter-ego, "Calvin 'Earthquake' Jones" appear on the screen, slotted to fight against someone called "The Anvil." Mac watched as the man with the broken fingers Jack had pointed out earlier climbed under the ropes into the boxing ring.

"Okay," Jack said as he saw Mac's opponent. "Keep a cool head, don't rush into things. That was another thing this guy took advantage of. He would wait until the other fighter wore himself out, then delivered the crushing blow."

"Thanks," MacGyver said as he walked towards the ring. He hated to admit it, but his stomach was tighter than he was expecting it to be.

 _I'm not much for hurting people unless it's life or death, and even then I try do as little damage as I can to take them out. That's why my plan is to mostly let these guys take themselves out._

MacGyver stepped under the ropes and walked to the center of the ring to touch gloves with 'The Anvil.' Mac listened as the ref called out a few rules. "Just a few ground rules," the ref said. "You can hit anywhere you can find; anything goes. No holding for more than ten seconds, and no fatal blows." MacGyver's eyes widened as he heard the ref give that last rule; what kind of fighting was this?! The ref continued talking. "Once you're down for seven seconds, you're out." After the ref explained the rules, he stepped back and blew his whistle.

Mac quickly ducked out of the way of the oncoming punch, delivering a blow to the man's knee, causing it to buckle slightly. Anvil snorted in anger and quickly delivered a blow to Mac's side. The blond grunted quietly, stepping to the side to try and bending to try and absorb as much of the blow as he could. His ribs were aching already, but Mac knew he couldn't lose this fight. He squared back up with Anvil, bouncing slightly on the balls of his feet to stay as mobile as he could. He waited and waited, baiting Anvil slightly by stepping just out of the man's reach, then jumping back agily when the large man took a swing. Anvil took one more swing at Mac, and the blond saw the opportunity. He braced himself and brought his own fist out, smashing it into the oncoming fist, which was the fist that had the broken fingers. Mac ignored the pain in his own wrist and went into a tumble roll to get behind Anvil. He hit the man behind his knees, causing him to fall on all fours. Once he was down, Mac delivered a punch to the man's kidneys. Anvil went all the way down with a shout of pain, writhing on the ground while trying to get up. He finally gave into the pain and just fell limp on the floor. The ref began shouting the time, and when he reached seven, he declared the man out. Mac had won his first fight.

The blond quickly stepped off the mat and walked back over to Jack, who had a proud smile on his face. Bewildered and slightly shocked, but proud. "Good job, Mac!" he said, clapping the blond on the shoulder. The two of them watched as Mac's name advanced on the placement table. Mac had a one-fight reprieve while he waited for the next fight to finish to determine who he was going to be fighting. During that break, someone came over and wrapped Mac's wrist tightly, telling him that he should be fine to continue fighting; it wasn't a serious injury. Mac didn't know how much he trusted them, but he knew his body's own limits, and he was nowhere near his stopping point yet.

Mac swallowed hard when he realized his next fight was with "The Hammer." Hammer's last opponent had to be carried out by a group of men, clutching at both his side and his knee. Jack saw his partner's expression and understood completely where the kid was coming from. "Hey," he said, putting as much confidence in his voice as he could. "You got this," he insisted. "You were right when you said you brought your brains to the fight. Just use that big ol' brain of yours and you've got it in the bag, no problem."

"Thanks," Mac said a little hesitantly. Jack gently pushed Mac forward when 'Earthquake''s name was called out. Mac snapped himself out of his trance and walked towards the mat, putting as much confidence in his stride as he could. He ducked under the ropes and once more touched gloves with his opponent. He zoned out the ref, who was repeating the same rules as before, trying to get himself focused for the fight.

He saw the ref step back and lift his whistle to his lips, but the air had barely been blown into the shrill instrument when Hammer lunged from his position, ramming his shoulder into Mac's chest. Mac gasped as the breath was pushed out of him, and he felt like he had been placed between an anvil and a wall. He vaguely heard the crowd going wild, and amidst all their cheering and yelling, he heard Jack's voice louder than the rest.

"WHAT WAS THAT?" the older man yelled. "COME ON REF, THAT'S A PENALTY!"

Hammer pushed himself off the young blond, causing Mac to gasp again. The young man struggled on the ground for a minute, finding his way over to the ropes and grabbing them. He hauled himself up, balancing as he pushed himself the rest of the way into a standing position. The ref appeared in front of Mac's face. "Are you okay, son?" he asked. "Can you keep going?"

MacGyver nodded, not saying anything for fear of sounding like he had inhaled helium. He simply nodded once more, silently assuring the ref he could fight, and squared off with Hammer again. The ref's whistle sounded, and this time Mac was prepared. He sidestepped Hammer's charge, and since Mac had been standing close to the ropes, and Hammer had once more lowered his shoulder to ram it into his opponent, the large man ended up running face-first into the ropes, bouncing him back onto the floor.

"GO AFTER HIM, BUD!" Mac heard Jack yell. MacGyver moved forward, but he was too slow. Hammer jumped back to his feet, looking slightly dazed, but angrier than ever. He charged towards Mac with an angry yell, wrapping the kid in a large bear hug from the front. He lifted the blond up and squeezed, causing Mac's ribs to groan in pain again. Mac groaned himself, struggling futilely against the grip of the Hammer. Things started fuzzing out as the pressure increased, but suddenly the pressure was gone and Mac dropped to the ground. The ref was yelling at the Hammer for holding for more than ten seconds, calling a penalty. The penalty stated that Mac got a two-minute break from the fight.

"Kid," Mac heard Jack said. MacGyver had pushed himself to the corner, leaning against the intersection for support. "You okay?"

"Peachy," Mac muttered, wincing as he stretched, trying to assess the damage done to his ribs.

"Listen, you can pull out," Jack said. "Stephen's doing pretty good at holding his own, and even if he doesn't win, we'll find another way to get to DeMartin," he assured the kid. Mac immediately shook his head.

"No way," he said. "I'm not giving up. This is our mission, and I'm not giving up just because of some bruised ribs," he said. "It's not as bad as Cairo," he reminded his partner when Jack opened his mouth. Jack's mouth slanted, but he could see the kid wasn't going to give up that easily.

"Alright," he relented. "Listen, you dazed him there for a minute," Jack reminded his friend. "Just find a way to do it again and take him out. You've got this," he said. He handed the young agent a water bottle, which Mac accepted gratefully. He twisted the lid off and downed about half the bottle before handing it back to Jack after screwing the lid back on.

"Thanks," he said. He used the ropes as leverage to help him get to his feet once more. The ref came over and asked if he was okay, to which Mac simply nodded his head. The ref backed away and MacGyver and Hammer touched gloves. The ref blew his whistle again and Mac immediately backed up to the ropes. Hammer circled, looking like a shark about to close in on its next meal. After a few tense seconds (which felt like an eternity), Hammer finally charged forward. MacGyver immediately climbed to the second rope, springing himself off the elastic ropes and wrapping his arms around the Hammer's neck. He then wrapped his legs around the man's waist, and knowing he had mere seconds before he was penalized, he dug his elbow into a specific nerve-cluster on the man's neck.

Hammer immediately fell to the ground, and Mac fell off and caught himself in a roll. Hammer was on the ground, clutching at his neck in pain, and when he made no move to get up, the ref began counting.

"One! Two! Three! Four! Five! Six! ...SEVEN! YOU'RE OUT!" the ref yelled. The crowd went crazy wild; no one had ever seen a fighter like 'Earthquake' before, and they were absolutely loving it. MacGyver had advanced to the final fight, and no one had expected it at all.

After that fight, Mac had two byes because the other fighters he was supposed to fight ended up being kicked out for improper conduct, which Mac was a little surprised to hear, seeing as how almost anything was tolerated in the ring. Not that he was complaining. The byes gave him the chance to rest for a minute and catch his breath.

Mac wiped the sweat off his forehead with a small hand-towel Jack had given him, and he watched the next few matches with interest. The final match was going to be taking place in a different part of the building, and the last semi-final fight was in that area of the building as well, so Mac couldn't see who his opponent was going to be until he actually got there. The blond checked the time, noticing that they only had a few minutes until the final round started. He stood up and Jack hurried over.

"Mac, you're doing great!" he said excitedly. "You've got this final match in the bag," he assured his young friend. Mac appreciated his friend's confidence.

They reached the ring where the final fight was taking place, and MacGyver looked up at the scoreboard. There was his alias, 'Earthquake,' and the other name was one Mac thought he recognized from somewhere.

"Who's 'Lightning'?" Mac asked, glancing around at the throng of people. He turned too far to one side too quickly and winced as his ribs reminded him of their soreness. Jack took out the list of names the registrar had given him and once more started going over the list of people who were fighting. Before Jack could find out who Lightning was, Earthquake was called to the ring.

"Good luck," Jack said, clapping the kid gently on his shoulder to avoid causing further pain. "You got this."

MacGyver walked forward and ducked under the rope, making sure his gloves were on tight. His ribs were still sore, but he knew it was a pain he would be able to fight through, especially once the fight actually started and he had to focus on keeping himself from being hit. The crowd was going crazy as he walked towards the center of the ring, and Mac turned to look back at Jack one last time. Jack nodded at his partner, then Mac saw his eyes go wide. MacGyver turned around and realized why he recognized the name 'Lightning.'

Stephen West was walking towards the center of the ring, a hungry look in his eye. The other agent walked forward, his head held high as he met Mac halfway, and the two of them touched gloves and squared off. Once more, Mac zoned out the ref and his rules; he knew why Stephen and Grant had come on this mission. They wanted revenge on what had happened after Thornton found out what they had done to him on his first day.

Mac heard the whistle blow shrilly, and he and Stephen immediately began circling each other, neither one of them wanting to make the first move. Stephen feinted forward, stepping back as Mac moved to block the fake punch. Once MacGyver had moved, Stephen lunged forward, planting a solid right hook on Mac's cheek. Mac's head whipped to the side and he tasted the coppery taste of blood in his mouth. He backed away from Stephen slightly, bringing his arm up and rubbing it across his lip. When he brought his arm down, there was a streak of red. MacGyver moved forward again, throwing his own punch aimed for Stephen's midsection. Stephen reacted by blocking the hit and bringing his left fist on the other side of Mac's face, leaving the blond with a cut on both sides of his face now. Mac spit a bit of blood out of his mouth and backed out of reach.

"Look," Mac said. The crowd was loud enough Mac was positive no one would be able to hear what he was saying. "Either way, we've won. One of us is gonna win and get in to see DeMartin. What do you say we let sleeping dogs lie and make it seem like an actual fight, and then one of us throws in the towel?"

"Sorry Angus," West sneered. "This is an all or nothing fight, and I don't plan on walking away with nothing."

"Listen," Mac said, panting heavily while wiping the blood off his lip again. "It was one week of janitorial work over a year ago!"

"Yeah, along with several more months of teasing from the other agents, and Thornton's attitude towards us for messing with her protege," Stephen growled. Mac was about to defend himself, tell him that he never asked for special treatment, but he didn't get the chance.

Once he had finished speaking, the other DXS agent struck again, landing a well-aimed punch right below Mac's right eye. MacGyver reeled back slightly, and Stephen took his opponent's distraction to tackle the young man to the ground. Mac grunted as his head connected with the floor, but he didn't have time to be dizzy as Stephen began whaling on him. With the stars dancing in front of Mac's eyes, the best he could do for the time being was put up his gloved hands in front of his face to try and block as much of the attack as he could. When Stephen couldn't hit his face, he began going for the kid's already-sore ribs.

MacGyver heard Jack from somewhere to the side of him yelling, but he couldn't make out the words. As quickly as he could, the blond brought his left knee up and twisted it so that he placed it against Stephen's stomach. He then brought his right foot up and put it against his opponent's hip. Once his legs were in place, he quickly pushed up with his legs while simultaneously rolling to the side to get out from underneath the other agent. Stephen fell to the floor with a thud, but he was up quickly. MacGyver had rolled over to the side of the ring, near the stretchy ropes, and he grabbed onto the top one as if to help pull himself up once more. He heard Stephen yell as he ran towards MacGyver, and Mac closed his eyes, hoping his plan would work.

When Stephen neared him, Mac ducked in-between the ropes and pulled down and out on it as hard and as quickly as he could, keeping his head tucked in so that he wouldn't be the one hit. After the rope was released, he heard the thwang and then a nice, satisfying thwack, accompanied by the startled grunt of Stephen. Mac opened his eyes and saw the agent on the ground, clutching at his nose. The ref got down on the floor and started counting. Stephen made brief eye contact with Mac, then simply laid back on the mat, showing he gave the win to Mac.

The crowd went nuts, but MacGyver didn't really pay attention to that. He leaned over, trying to catch his breath and wiping the sweat off his forehead, as well as trying to swipe his soaking wet hair out of his eyes. The ref grabbed his hand and held it up, indicating the winner, making the crowd go even more crazy than they already were. Jack ducked under the ropes and hurried over to his friend.

"Dude, you okay?" he asked. "I musta been seein' things, cuz it didn't look like Stephen was holding back his punches!" Jack led Mac out of the ring while MacGyver answered.

"He wasn't," Mac admitted.

"And why the heck not?!" Jack asked incredulously, turning around to glare daggers at the other agent.

"I'll tell you later," Mac muttered. A group of men had just appeared, and they encircled MacGyver and Jack. The two agents were escorted down a long hallway, and at the end of it Mac saw a large door, which he assumed was the one Thornton had told them about. They reached the door and it was pushed open. Mac and Jack were ushered in, then the door was closed and locked. MacGyver looked in front of them at the desk with the man sitting behind it. He recognized the man immediately from the pictures Thornton had shown them.

"Mr. Jones," came the gravelly voice of the man in the chair. The man had silvery-white hair, he was wearing a nice and rather expensive looking suit, and he was smoking a cuban cigar. DeMartin stood up and held out his hand, which Mac accepted and shook. "And his trainer, Mr. Lake, correct?"

"That's correct, sir," Jack said, shaking the offered hand as well.

"May I interest you in some refreshment?" DeMartin asked as he walked over to a small table, where a few glasses as well as a bottle of scotch were sitting. "I'd say you deserve it."

Both MacGyver and Jack shook their heads, and Marco shrugged, pouring himself a glass anyway. "Well I have to say," DeMartin said as he settled back down and eyed the two of them. "I watched you fight," he stated, motioning to a TV monitor mounted on the wall. "You've got a unique style, kid. You tend to let your opponent take themselves out, with only a little help from you," he observed. "Why is that?"

 _I probably shouldn't tell him that I'm not a huge fan of violence. That would just send up way too many red flags._

"It's just a technique I've learned through all my years of...training," Mac replied. "Use what you have around you to your advantage; it just tends to make life a lot easier."

"I couldn't agree more," Marco replied with a smile. "Though it does look like you took a bit of a beating in those last two fights," he observed. Mac shrugged, though doing so sent pain through his body, causing him to wince.

"Just part of the job," he said with a pained smile. Marco stood up.

"Walk with me?" he requested, though Mac sensed that it wasn't really a request. Marco kept his cigar in his mouth and carried his glass of scotch with him. The two agents followed the warlord out of the room, and almost immediately they were flanked by four of the men surrounding the door. Mac heard the door shut and lock behind them once more, but he didn't pay any attention to that anymore. His only goal was to get Marco away from his guards.

"I'm sure you're aware of what I'm going to offer you," Marco said, glancing over at them. "You've heard about the fighters who win, and what I ask them to do for me?"

 _Okay, this is a little weird. Thornton said he liked to meet with the winners alone in that room to negotiate. So why have we stepped out of the room and are now being followed around by his guards? Something just doesn't seem right._

Mac glanced over at Jack, and he could tell his partner was thinking the same thing. "Yes, we're aware," Jack confirmed. They all walked out into the parking lot, but it wasn't the lot in front of the building. It was the one in the back, reserved specifically for people with special access, meaning there wasn't a lot of publicity. Mac's uneasy feeling intensified, and he glanced at Jack once more. Jack's arms were crossed over his chest, but Mac could see the tension in his partner's stance.

"Then I just have one question before we get to the finite details of our agreement," Marco said. "Who do you work for, and how did you know where to find me?"

Immediately the atmosphere changed. The guards pulled their guns and trained them on the two agents, who both held up their hands, though Mac knew Jack would be able to reach his gun in the blink of an eye if need be.

"What are you talking about?" Jack asked, trying to sound incredulous and angry. "I gotta tell you man, this really puts a damper on our relationship!"

"You don't think I'm that dumb, do you?" Marco asked angrily. "I've seen your type before; you FBI, CIA, whatever you are, you all think you're so sneaky, but please. I wasn't born yesterday. How do you think I've been able to stay on the run for as long as I have?" he sneered. "I've trained myself to spot government agents from a mile away," he informed them smugly.

Mac knew their cover was blown, so he sprang into action. As Jack turned and began fighting with the guards, Mac grabbed Marco's scotch out of his hand and dumped the drink over the man's coat sleeve. Marco looked furious.

 _Man, if he's upset about what scotch alone does to his jacket, he's really not gonna like it when I add the second ingredient._

Mac jerked the cigar out of Marco's mouth and touched the burning end to where the alcohol had been splashed, and the suit coat immediately started smoking. Marco looked down at his sleeve and yelped, struggling to get the jacket off. MacGyver pulled the back of the jacket up over the man's head so he couldn't see where he was going. He spinned the warlord away from him, making him run into the wall next to them.

Jack struggled with the guards. There were four of them and only one of him; he was able to take down two of them with little struggle, but then one of them grabbed Jack from behind in a tight grip. Jack struggled, but he had to focus on the man coming at him from the front. He leaned back and kicked his feet off the ground, using the man holding him for support as he rammed his feet into the face of the approaching man. That guard went down with a grunt, and Jack focused the rest of his attention on the man holding him from behind.

MacGyver jumped Marco from behind, similar to how his men had grabbed Jack, pushing aside his body's screaming pain in order to keep the upper hand on the drug lord. Marco grunted as he felt the weight of the young man on top of him, and he renewed his struggling. Mac tried to dig his elbow into the same cluster of nerves he used on the Hammer earlier, but Marco twisted, throwing MacGyver off of his back before he could. The blond hit the ground with a grunt, glancing up with wide eyes as he saw DeMartin's boot coming for his face.

He rolled away slightly from the descending boot, then rolled back into the leg once the foot was on the ground, sending Marco crashing to the ground on Mac's other side. Once the warlord was on the ground, Mac sat up and faced the man, delivering a final blow to DeMartin's face. Marco went limp, his head lolling to the side as he fell into unconsciousness.

MacGyver turned to face Jack just in time to see Jack, who was being held from the behind, go into a forward tumble roll, timing it just right so that the older American landed on the guard holding him instead of the hard ground, cushioning his fall. The guard wheezed as the breath was knocked out of him, and Jack took the opportunity to turn the man onto his stomach and yank his hands behind his back. "Stay there," Jack ordered roughly. Jack looked to his younger partner, and relief flooded his eyes when he saw the kid was alright.

Mac struggled to his feet, holding his side slightly as the pain made itself the prime focus once more, and he nodded at Jack. "Use your belt to tie him up," he panted.

Jack had just finished restraining the guard when they heard the heavy fall of many footsteps heading their way. The two agents tensed, preparing themselves for another battle with the guards, but they both relaxed visibly when Thornton appeared with half a dozen agents behind her.

"You're late," Jack informed her as he stood up. Thornton raised an eyebrow at him, giving him a cold stare. "I mean, you're right on time, Patty! Look at that!"

Before they had left for San Fran, Thornton had informed Jack and MacGyver that she would be coming along a few hours after them with a few other agents to help round up Marco's men. She told them that the two of them were only to focus on getting DeMartin if they could help it.

"The other guys?" Jack asked, wiping some sweat off his face.

"We've got them," Thornton assured him. She looked at MacGyver, taking in all the blond's injuries. "If you'll excuse me," she said, her eyes hardening slightly. "There are a few rogue agents I need to go have a chat with."

0-0-0

"Dude, I can't believe you didn't tell me that Stephen and Grant were the ones who locked you in the closet!" Jack grumped at his friend.

"I just didn't think it was necessary," Mac said. "It wasn't a big deal; they got punished, and I knew you would have gone after them," he added.

"You're darn right I would have!" Jack nearly yelled.

"But that would have caused even more trouble with them, and that wasn't something any of us needed to deal with," Mac pointed out. "I thought they had let it go," he admitted.

"Uh huh, look how well that worked out," Jack commented drily. "Still think they let it go?" he asked, gesturing to his partner's black eye and swollen lip. MacGyver was about to respond, but they rounded the corner and came upon Thornton confronting Stephen and Grant.

"Come on, Thornton," Grant was trying to negotiate. "You know us!"

"I know," Thornton replied. "That's the problem. You're both rash, immature, and juvenile. You jeopardized this whole operation so you could what? Get revenge on someone for something that I did to you over a year ago?"

Stephen and Grant began speaking over each other, trying to defend themselves and their actions, but Thornton held up her hand. The two of them shut their mouths and stared sullenly at the ground.

"What's gonna happen now?" Stephen asked sullenly. Thornton shrugged, but it wasn't an 'I don't know' shrug. It was more of an 'I know and I couldn't care less.'

"There is going to be a long debriefing with Oversight," she informed them. "I'm not even sure how long to tell you it's going to take."

"Are we fired?"

"I can't tell you that for sure, but let me ask you a question: what kind of security threat you could be if you were let go and happened to hold a grudge against the agency or any of its members?" she asked pointedly. Stephen and Grant mumbled a bit under their breath, but stopped when Thornton pinned them with an icy stare again. She observed them for another minute before turning and walking away, leaving them standing there with crabby looks on their faces.

"Hey boys," Jack called out suddenly, closing the distance between them. Mac opened his mouth to stop his partner, but closed it as he realized it would be a futile endeavor.

"Whatcha gonna do, Dalton?" Stephen snapped. "Protect your kid partner? What, can Angus not take care of himself?"

"If I remember correctly," Jack said smugly as he looked back at his partner. "Mac knocked the fight outta you with one blow," he reminded Stephen. "It only took one move from him to incapacitate you, while he stood up to your beatings like a pro."

Stephen turned red and began sputtering, trying to defend himself, but Jack punched him in the mouth before he could get anything coherent out. As Stephen reeled back in shock, putting his hand up to his mouth, Jack turned and did the same thing to Grant.

"That's for stepping in on our op," Jack growled. "Maybe next time you'll think about your actions before you try to do something stupid like this just to get some petty revenge. I doubt it'll help though," Jack added, looking at the two men. "I don't think you're that smart."

The two of them looked like they wanted to argue, but other agents had arrived to escort them to their rides back to the Phoenix, and no one bothered asking where they'd gotten their bloodied mouths from. Everyone knew, and no one seemed to care, or want to get in the middle of it.

Mac stepped up to his partner after the others left. "Thanks," he said quietly.

"Always got your back, kid," Jack reminded him as they watched the two agents being escorted to their vehicles. "Always."

 _ **Full prompt: Any chance you could do a follow up. Say a year later and somehow Mac is stuck with those jerks for some reason and they still want revenge. Like they've been biding their time for the right moment and they're really pissed at him kind of thing. Some good Mac whump and Jack later finding out because Mac is hurt and he wants revenge**_

 _ **So like I said, a little far-fetched, and I'm not sure about the ending. Lemme know what you think? Tinkerbella, I know you probably wanted the fight with Stephen to be a little bit more of the focus, but I hope this is okay?**_

 _ **Sorry, also know I didn't give Jack a ton of revenge... *covers face with hands* I hope this is okay?**_

 _ **Let me know what you guys think!**_


End file.
